Construction Linx MD Gareth Williams and his brother Dan Williams are in Perth, Australia hoping to honour their late cricket-mad father at the Ashes.
Gareth and Dan made a snap decision to travel out to Perth for the third Test following the sudden passing of dad their Dad John earlier this year.
They have brought a small collection of John’s cremated ashes along with them and are hoping to obtain permission to scatter the ashes on the WACA outfield at the end of the Test.
“Dad was a massive cricket fan — some of my earliest memories as a three or four-year-old were sitting on the boundary crying my eyes out in the cold English conditions while he was playing,” Dan Williams, Gareth’s brother said.
“He was a pace bowler — well, as pacey as a 17-stone (108kg) man can get.”
A railway engineer from Crewe, John regularly followed England when they played at home and he had a trip to Australia on his bucket list but sadly never made the trip. John ranked Ian Botham as his favourite cricketer but also had a lot of respect for Glenn McGrath, who he encouraged his son Dan to model his game around.
“He would tell me I was bowling too short all the time — that was his main thing, getting the ball up there,” Dan said.
“Deciding to come out to Australia was a snap decision, within about three hours this trip was booked and packed and ready to go,” Gareth added.
“To come to such an iconic ground and it being the last Ashes Test that will be played here, that sealed it for us — the last act of our father and one of the last acts of this pitch.”
The brothers emailed the WACA asking for permission to scatter their father’s Ashes on the outfield before or after one of the day’s play.
“We got a polite response turning us down and suggesting we use one of the rose gardens outside the stadium,” Gareth said.
The WACA reply said: “Thank you for your inquiry regarding scattering of ashes. This is a very common request.
“Ashes are generally scattered in our rose gardens, which we have several … the most popular location is in the rose garden over looking the practice wickets.
“Unfortunately, we can’t scatter ashes on the outfield.”
Gareth said: “We only brought a peppering so we’re still hoping to sort something out.”
“We are not suggesting something outlandish or with fanfare, we would simply like to scatter Dad’s ashes at the ground before or after one of the day’s play, preferably somewhere on the playing surface.”
The brothers are still waiting for a positive response and have had support from many people in Perth including the local media.
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